Author: J. Venkatesan
Publication: The Hindu
Date: July 9, 2011
URL: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2210758.ece?homepage=true
The head of the erstwhile royal family of
Travancore, Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma, on Friday informed the Supreme
Court that neither he nor any of his family members was making any claim to
the wealth or properties of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram.
Senior counsel K.K. Venugopal, appearing
for him, made this submission before a Bench of Justice R.V. Raveendran and
Justice A.K. Patnaik, hearing special leave petitions against a Kerala High
Court order for a government takeover of the administration of the temple.
Referring to the substantial quantity of
valuable jewels and other artefacts found in the underground 'kallaras' (safe
vaults) of the temple in recent days as a court-appointed panel started opening
them and making an inventory of their contents, Mr. Venugopal said: "The
royal family is not claiming any ownership. No part of the property belongs
to any member of the family. The Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple is a public temple
and they are only trustees."
Mr. Venugopal added: "The head of the
Travancore family, Mr. Marthanda Varma, believed that the treasure should
be used judiciously for religious and social uplift, running veda patasalas
and maintenance of other Hindu temples which are not in good condition. The
unique artefacts made as offerings to the deity show to what extent people
are prepared to part with their wealth for the sake of God."
Counsel said: "Newspapers and the media
say that the value of the treasure is over Rs. 1 lakh crore and this is the
richest temple in the world, even richer than the Vatican, but the intrinsic
value of precious jewellery and copper coins must be assessed by an expert."
Justice Raveendran, in a lighter vein, said:
"By saying this is the richest temple in the world, you are defaming
Lord Balaji of the Tirupati temple because it is always considered the richest
temple."
When Justice Raveendran said that "we
are concerned with preservation and conservation of the property and not its
valuation," Mr. Venugopal said: "The value must be known, perhaps
for using the proceeds for religious or social benefits. They cannot be allowed
to lie in the kallaras. The artefacts may be kept in a museum independent
of the temple."
Justice Raveendran told counsel: "We
are concerned in preserving the temple tradition and its sanctity. In the
name of videography somebody should not go inside the temple sanctum sanctorum.
When people know that these jewellery or artefacts are in the kallaras, instead
of looking at the deity, they will be looking only at the kallaras and the
focus will shift from God to [the] kallaras."
The Bench, therefore, asked Mr. Varma and
the State of Kerala to give suggestions on how the artefacts could be preserved
and protected without affecting the temple tradition.
The Bench directed that until further orders,
the opening of Kallara 'B' should be postponed. Kallara 'A', already opened,
need not be re-opened for the present.
The Bench posted the matter for further hearing
on July 14.
